Paste Magazine, official music publication of missing contributor Father Scott, is celebrating the forthcoming release of a few CDs of Hüsker Dü rarities with a quickie poll.

The question: “Who is the greatest Minnesota music artist?”

The choices:

Hüsker Dü
Soul Asylum
The Hold Steady
Atmosphere
The Replacements
Morris Day and the Time
Prince
Tapes ‘n Tapes
The Jayhawks

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Conspicuously absent is Minnesota-bred Bob Dylan. I didn’t post this yesterday because I assumed it was some sort of oversight. But I checked again late last night (10:30 is late, right?) and the bizarre poll was still up without the most obvious choice.

I wonder if this is some sort of meta-statement from Paste that we’re in a strictly post-Dylan era now? Or maybe they threw this poll together without actually thinking it through.

Seriously. You could lump all the songs by all those people together and they wouldn’t add up to “Tangled Up in Blue,” let alone the rest of the Dylan catalog. And I’m talking as a die-hard fanatical booster of at least three of those bands.

One interesting note: Dylan is a second cousin of the late, great David Brudnoy, of whom myself, the Reverend E and Lucy were notably fond. The Rev. and I once had drinks with Calvin Trillin at Bruds’ place after he interviewed Trillin for his radio show. Both really classy, interesting and brilliant guys. I miss Bruds.

I’m going with the wisdom of the crowd on this one and voting for Bob.

And since we are now all firmly in Bob’s camp and fans to be sure, I thought I’d introduce your readers to my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, which I think they’d enjoy.

It’s a murder-mystery. But not just any rock superstar is knocking on heaven’s door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian, an enigmatic, obtuse, inscrutable, well, you get the picture…

Suspects? Tons of them. The only problem is they’re all characters in Bob’s songs.